The purpose of this manual is to provide teachers and other instructional personnel with an understanding of disruptive behavior and effective techniques to use in dealing with children who are disruptive in the classroom. An introductory chapter describes and defines disruptive behavior, explains possible by-products of disruptive behavior, and…

P. M. Lewinsohn has theorized that depression is related to the amount of positive reinforcement that an individual receives. Lewinsohn has supported this model in adults by showing that depression is correlated with an increase in unpleasant activities and a decrease in pleasant activities. This study extended Lewinsohn's model by developing…

Research suggests that teacher expectations can predict changes in student achievement and behavior. This Digest discusses the Pygmalion effect, or the idea that one's expectations about a person can eventually lead that person to behave and achieve in ways that conform to those expectations. Many teachers believe that they can judge ahead of time…

This study evaluated a behavioral teaching strategy for teaching the use of compound predicates in writing to three academically deficient, behaviorally disordered boys (ages 9 to 13). The strategy attempted to affect the number of compound predicates per T-unit (minimal terminable unit) per 20-minute writing session using a combination of…

Accountability is important in today's education. Teachers are expected to maintain high standards of excellence for themselves and their students and to demonstrate professional growth. Though expectations for teachers are usually very similar, expectations of teachers vary enormously. The article highlights certain differences by looking at four…

The report addresses the need for rectifying overrepresentation of minority students (especially black students) in classes for the educable mentally retarded. Recommendations made in 1979 by a panel established by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences are reviewed. Case studies illustrating six successful alternative…

To provide educators with an alternative perspective on discipline, this handbook examines the concept of discipline, presents four models of disciplinary strategy, and discusses factors related to classroom discipline. After briefly analyzing different definitions of discipline and their positive and negative outcomes, the authors discuss each of…

The study examined effects of training older siblings (ages 6-8) of six 1- to 3-year-old infants and toddlers with Down syndrome to employ social communication strategies in play sessions. Three secondary purposes included evaluating effects of intervention upon the communication skills of the Down syndrome children, effects of intervention on…

This monograph is designed to help educators develop a better understanding of children's self-concept, the effects of children's self-concept on their school experience, and ways educators can have a positive effect on self-concept. The first section defines self-concept and presents two case studies; the second discusses factors influencing the…

Following a review of empirical research on teacher feedback to students' wrong responses, this paper describes a paradigm for use with direct instruction materials, applying the feedback model to comprehension tasks from traditional reading and science textbooks. The next section details a classification system for wrong responses grouped into…

Forty subjects who had previously been identified for internal/external locus of control characteristics read a case history that was manipulated to reflect either persuasive or coercive influence strategies. The subjects then completed five seven-point scales that measured the extent to which they approved or disapproved of the means of influence…

This paper suggests ways in which educators can help students develop responsibility, as well as academic skills and intellectual growth. The four steps in decision-making are outlined to show that decision and action should follow logically once the behavior and its consequences have been identified. A technique referred to as contracting is…

The single most important thing that a teacher can do for a student is to identify and label specifically what the child does right rather than what he or she does wrong. In an elementary school where students wrote every day and teachers marked every error, students began to write less, using simpler words and eliminating all meaningful writing.…

Research results and suggestions concerning motivating college students are considered. Some research has indicated that motivation to learn in school is not fixed, but it is not changed drastically in short time periods either. It has been suggested that students who are not motivated to learn resist new information, and use categorical reasoning…

To ascertain the relevancy of behavioral psychology to those who are engaged in developmental work with college and adult students, this paper reviews articles found in several journals concerned with that discipline. The articles reviewed were chosen as representative of those pertaining to achieving academic success and are organized into five…